2013 and earlier-Subaru Legacy Prices Paid and Buying Experience

Comments

I realize that TX is not as competitive a market as here in CO, but that seems high to me. I bought a NEW 2010 Ltd in November '09 with Homelink, rubber mats (trunk mat too), hood and sunroof deflectors, mud flaps, iPod/Bluetooth connection and PZEV (not required but saves me ever having to get the smog test done) for $25,200.

They didnt' have the color I wanted in stock but I only waited a week to get one in.

Short answer; $23,000 is too high when for another $2K-$3K you should be able to get a 2011 model with NO miles.

I don't mean to be critical, but since you asked, I think you would be overpaying for this car. You can probably buy the tint for less money from any local supplier and you can order the cargo tray at a discount off the factory price from many Subaru parts and accessory suppliers online. As for the spoiler, IMHO it doesn't belong on a 170-horsepower car. If you must have a Subaru, find a new one at that price or a little more. I would bet that the car you're looking at is a demonstrator or loaner and you simply don't know how it was treated. Ask the sales person for the Carfax on it.

I love my two '08 Subarus, including my Legacy Limited daily driver, but frankly, if I lived in Texas as you do, I would be driving a Hyundai Sonata Limited if I didn't need the all-wheel drive. The Hyundai is an all-around better car with a better warranty and, for your price range, you can probably find plenty of new ones in your area. Just my two cents.

My brother was car-shopping, so we just test drove a Kia Optima with a manual transmission.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. Fantastic car on paper, but some how it was just less than the sum of its parts. Numb steering, too-light clutch and shifter, not very fun to drive. Subjective things that are not shown on any spec sheet, but neither of us liked it.

We drove a Legacy sedan right afterwards and both of us liked it a lot better. Especially the steering.

He actually ended up buying a Forester.

I'd recommend the Kia only to someone who prefers isolation over driving involvement.

I know the Optima has shared mechanicals with the Sonata, but I haven't driven the Kia. From what I've seen, the Optima interior certainly looks cheaper than the Sonata's. I have driven the 2011 Legacy and have had several drives in the Sonata, both base trim (several days in a rental) and Limited. I'm a Subaru loyalist, but frankly, if you don't need the all-wheel-drive, the Sonata is the better car. It has more power, gets better mileage and has more amenities and a better warranty for the price. It is also better-looking and has a larger trunk. (Both have top safety ratings, although I don't know whether one is safer than the other.) Frankly, the Legacy looks and feels outdated by comparison. If Hyundai ever decides to make an AWD version, God help the Legacy. On a Legacy forum, I recently asked posters if they would buy another Legacy if they didn't need AWD. A lot of answers came back and the overwhelming majority said no. And now that Hyundai has released the 2.0 Turbo model with 274hp, you have to wonder about the relevance of the Legacy GT. My only concern with the Hyundai is whether I would get the same superb service that I now get at the Subaru dealer. The nearest Hyundai dealer to me has bad BBB ratings and many complaints.

What was odd to me was that the Kia is supposed to be the sportier one. I can't imagine what the Sonata is like, then.

To be fair, most cars in this class are boring, with few exceptions. The Legacy was not, though.

Not to negate the positives about the Sonata, but the Optima also had poor rear visibility.

A Subaru without AWD is like non-alcoholic beer.

Hyundai's powertrain is great, but like I said, my complaints were in other areas, mostly subjective. 274hp with numb steering and isolated handling are not a good combination at all. They need a sporty version and a manual trans to boot.

Your comments probably point out the fact that two different people can have different reactions to the same car. It doesn't mean either one is wrong. I haven't driven the Kia, but I certainly found the Hyundai comparable in handling to my '08 Legacy Limited and the '11 Legacy Premium that was my last dealer loaner. At the NY auto show last week, I had a chance to do a close examination of the Sonata hybrid and that will probably be my next car. I'm willing to give up AWD for the better looks, extra luxury, additional room (interior and trunk) and superior gas mileage and warranties. If you put that hybrid next to a current Legacy, the latter simply looks old and out of date. I also had a chance to look at the new Impreza and, while it's better-looking than the last model, it's still a really boring design. Subaru may be selling well now and it's attempting to boost sales in warmer climates, but the competition is invading its territory. There are now more AWD choices and a number of other brands in the price range are matching its five-star crash ratings and exceeding its technology. Subaru was supposed to do a hybrid using Toyota technology, but we've heard nothing about that recently. It'll be offering Toyota's new small sports car, but it will be RWD and not AWD. It's getting a lot tougher to remain a Subaru loyalist when the brand isn't keeping up with the competition or maintaining its unique position in the market.

If I had my druthers, I'd like to see the Kia's exterior, the Hyundai's interior and the Subaru's AWD and safety, all in a hybrid. That would be my ideal car. BTW, I like the new Legacy's interior design a lot and it's a real improvement over my '08. It's the exterior that leaves me flat, both on the Legacy and (especially) the Outback. I'm guessing Subaru thinks it needs the conservative design to appeal to us quirky buyers, but we like good design, too.

Nice purchase, Andy! Good luck with your new Legacy. I like the Premium level, but would prefer leather upholstery. Yesterday, I did a double take at my dealer when I saw an Outback Premium with leather. It turns out the dealer installed Katzkin (a good brand of aftermarket leather upholstery) covers and added $1,499 to the cost of the car. While that's not cheap, I was really impressed with the fit and finish of the leather. It seems to be slightly superior to the factory leather seats and posters on the Legacy forum say they wear like iron. I have no connection to Katzkin, but was impressed enough to pass on the information here. At least there's now an option for leather without having to upgrade to the Limited.

Bought a 2011 Legacy last night with optional winter package. Car is pzev, has auto-dimming mirror, homelink, body-side moldings, splash guards - a nice overall package. Used Overstock.com to negotiate the base price down to $19,500, added the winter package for $500, dealer handling, taxes and fees and walked out the door for 23,000 on the dot. This price included a trade in of my old, beat up 1995 volvo 850 with unknown miles (odometer stuck on 127,000 for the last 5 years). All in all I feel good about the deal. But you know how it is, you always think you could have done better!

I bought my Subaru Legacy Premium with AWP in Dark Grey for $3,330 off of the MSRP which was $23,995 which made it $20,665 before all the paperwork fees. It had 6 miles on it. It was a deal they were running but at least you know how low you can go!

Last week, I was offer $26,645 before TTL for a 2011 Legacy Limited. That included sunroof, all weather matts, trunk tray, splash guards, and mirror/compass/homelink. I politely declined because another dealership through Truecar was approx $1,000 less. This was in NE Ohio. Best of luck...

I just pre-ordered a 2012 Legacy through a dealership that offered to sell it to me at invoice. I got a 2.5i limited with power moon, body side panels, spoiler, auto-dim mirror w/ homelink, & all weather mats. The dealer doesn't know exactly how much the prices for the 2012 will go up (he guessed $200-300 tops, if at all) but the dealer invoice quote was $25,700 (before TTL) on a 2011. I dont know if they will do this deal again - they said they would run it through because I will have to drive out of town to pick it up. Hoping to get the car within 60 days - has anyone else out there heard when the 2012's will find their way to the showroom?

Could you please let me know where did u order 2012 legacy limtied? I checked with most of the dealers and none of them are willing to the the prices mentioned in this forum. Least quote I got for limited is 29 K

I did not purchase a 2.5i premium. But I purchased 2.5 limited with moon, all weather mat, spoiler, remote starter and I had dealership strip the woodtrim and replace them with silver one. Also a auto dimming mirror. I got out of door for 26,500. I got it from somerset subaru in nj.